Each day they would arrive. The old man, the son,the blind wife. Stumbling,bumbling,how do they survive? We all chuckled;what a way to go through life.
The family,we named the three. They ate at our restaurant faithfully. The son led mum,she could hardly see. Dad followed behind almost gleefully.
always happy in a cheerful mood. Dad always had his favorite joke to tell. Always a compliment about our food. We all had to wonder how they felt so well.
That Dad was crippled wasn't hard to tell. That the son was slow to say the least Dad was so deaf they had to yell but they always came to have a feast.
One day as I listened to his joke. Dad turned quiet and stared ahead. Silence hung in the air.I gave him a poke. Where were you Dad?Tell now take the lead.
His storey was about three friends from Lantz. Who all enlisted to fight the war. Traveled together on a ship to France. All drunk together in a foreign bar.
Fighting together in a land afar. Side by side in a muddy trench. Exploding sky but not a star. Nostrils full of a deadly stench.
Suddenly,Dad said,there's a blinding light. A noise so loud I think I'm dead. Then I'm flat on my back.The black of night. There in my lap is charlie's head!!
Dazed,in shock,I hear a painful scream. I crawl inch by inch through blood and mud. My sanity stretches it's an awful dream. I have to find him. I have to find Jud.
Suddenly I feel him in the dark. He's breathing,thank God alive. I think of yesterday a walk in the park. Now here wounded in this dirty dive.
Charlie is gone, now Jud's to be saved. I drag him up and out of the ditch. I stumble on to a road that is paved. Flashes,gunfire,I'm hit,son of a bitch.
But; Dad explains, we made it back. Yes simple as that. We made it back. I paused and swallowed a lump in my throat. Now didn't I feel like some silly hack.
The family took on a whole different light. We were honored to have them for dinner. They came like clockwork most every night. And yes we had no doubt. Dad was a winner.
Never before had he told us so much. Never again on the war did he touch. Crippled, half simple with always a grin. To underestimate him so much was such a sin.
Wow you really have a gift, brought chills to my body. Thank you.
Rebecca
Reviewed by P. Michaels (Reader)
Reviewed on November 17, 2005
It's a complete story told in verse. There is quite a message in it, too. You did it well. It tells us that things aren't always as we think. It's a good example of lifes little surprises.
I have written a chapter called I Am That, I Am in this inspirational compilation book by best-selling authors and wonderful people from all walks of life xox :-D (Its sister book is called Adventures In Manifesting - Success and Spirituality)
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Rebecca
Best wishes.